The exhibition Michel Robidas for Julie Snyder – 30 Years of Crazy Costumes, presented at the Diane-Dufresne art centre in Repentigny, offers the pleasure of seeing 20 extravagant dresses by Julie Snyder made by Michel Robidas.
“With Julie, there were no limits! She could wear anything! Even super-heavy dresses, with batteries, lighting systems and fireworks. She always gracefully carried the costume, even if it weighed 50 pounds,” says designer Michel Robidas. “The vault dress weighed 80 pounds,” says Julie Snyder. “It’s true, I have no limits! Michel could do whatever he wanted and I would always say yes.”
Costumes from all eras are on display, from Hell is the rest of us to The week of 4 Julies, including Le point J, Friday is Julie and The banker, in particular. Upon entering the exhibition, we see a dress with an Easter egg that opens. “Ah, the Poussin dress! », exclaims Michel Robidas. “This dress was created during Julie’s show in Paris in 2000. Julie Snyder arrived, accompanied by two great French pastry chefs, and she came out of the egg, dressed in a chick yellow dress, for Easter! “, he recalls.
“Extravagant and original dresses are part of Julie’s signature, it’s her trademark,” believes the designer. The host remembers that she always dressed in an original way, even when she was younger. “At CEGEP in Brébeuf, while everyone dressed preppy with Ralph Lauren and Lacoste outfits, I couldn’t afford it. But I thought it was ridiculous to dress like your parents, so I went to thrift stores where I cut up my grandfather’s shirts to make mandarin collars! “, she says.
During his career, Michel Robidas created costumes for Diane Dufresne, Céline Dion, Cirque du Soleil, and worked for 22 years for the Radio-Canada costume workshop. It was at this time that he began to collaborate with Julie Snyder for the show L’enfer c’est nous autres. “The first dress I created was in 1995. The Fontaine dress had tubes for the water to circulate! It started off strong,” he recalls.
Julie Snyder confides that she has always been a great admirer of the work of Michel Robidas. “38 years ago, I met Michel during my first interview with Celine Dion. We went to his workshop, because he had changed Céline’s look at the time of Incognito and he had made the famous theater and symphonic dresses for Diane Dufresne. » At Radio-Canada, Julie first worked with Renée Tardif and Sylvie Melançon. “In 1994, the collaboration with Michel Robidas began and we never left each other! And when I went to Paris and told my French producer that I wanted to bring the designer of my costumes from Montreal, he replied: “We’re in the land of Coco Chanel, we’re going to find someone A !” And Michel Robidas came to join me,” she remembers, very proud.
For the premiere of the show Friday is Julie in Paris, Julie was dressed in an Eiffel Tower dress. “It was a dress that sparkled like the Eiffel Tower for the year 2000 and launched fireworks. I was corseted like the Eiffel Tower and I had, on my thighs, like sticks of dynamite to launch the fireworks that came out of my dress. There were three firefighters in front of me, ready to put me out if I caught fire, it was completely crazy,” she recalls.
In addition to the costume dresses, original sketches, newspaper articles and video clips are also part of the exhibition.
The exhibition Michel Robidas for Julie Snyder: 30 years of crazy costumes is on display until September 29 at the Diane-Dufresne art center in Repentigny.
